Slack-adjuster.



W. Y. MOPPAT.

SLAGK ADJUSTBR. APPLICATION FILED 313.21, 1912.

1,060,482. Patented Apr. 29, 1913.

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W. Y. MUFFAT.

SLAGK ADJUSTBR.

APPLICATION FILED Inns, 19124 1,060,482.. Patented Apr. 29, 1913.

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WILLIAM Y. MOFFAT, 0F DUNMORE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-FOURTH T0 ALEXANDER F. TRIMBLE, 0F SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

sLAcK-ADJUsTER.

Speccation of Letters Patent.

Patent-ea apr. as, ioia.

Application led February 8, 19-12. Serial No. 676,452.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, WHLIAM Y. MorrA'r, a citizen of the United States, residing at Dunmore, in the county of Lackawanna and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Slack-Adjusters, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention appertains to slack adjusters for taking up slack in connections of brake rigging of railway rolling stock,

such as incidental to the wear of the brake` brake cylinder, brake levers, and associated' connections. The adjusting device aforesaid consists essentially of an auxiliary cylinder capable of being supplied with a pressure mediuln from the brake cylinder, a special form of piston being arranged in the auxiliary cylinder and having a rack extending therefrom for coperation with gear and ratchet devices, by which motion of the piston is transmitted from the piston to a suitable take-up device co-acting directly with a brake lever or levers, as the case may be.

A complete understanding ofthe invention will be had upon reference to the following detailed description, and to the accompan'ying drawings, in the latter of which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a brake syste 'showing my slack adjusting device applied thereto,the brake cylinder and its piston be'- ing illustrated in section, and the bracket support-ing the adjustable fulcrum being broken away to bring out clearly certain detail parts. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the Fig. 3 is a view of a modified adaptation of the invention, and Fig. 4 isa view similar to Fig. 3, showing a further modilication in respect to the use of the invention in a different type of brake system.

Throughout the following detail description and on the several iigures of the drawings, similar parts are referred to by like reference characters. A

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawlngs particularly, 1 denotes a common brake cylluder, 2 its piston, and 3 the brake levers customarily employed in systems of this class. The levers 3 are connected by the brake rod 4, the piston 2 having a piston rod 2 operatively connected with one of the levers 3. .Connecting rods 5 lead oif from the levers 3 for connection with other parts of the-brake system, being conventionally employed in apparatus of this type, and w ich parts I have not deemed it necessary to illustrate. Oifstanding from one of the `heads of the cylinder 1 is a supporting bracket 6 having slidably mounted therein a fulcrum block 7 to which one of the levers 3 is pivoted. An adjusting screw 8 is connected at one end to the fulcrum block 7, and the opposite end portion bf said screw passes through a casing 9 which virtually consists of a hollow extension of the slack adjusting cylinder 10. Mounted to'rotate in the casing 9 .isy a butt or sleeve 9, which is swiveled or otherwise mounted on the free extremity of the bracket 6. In the cylinder 10 is arranged a sliding piston 11 which comprises a hollow body 12 provided longitudinally thereof with a rack 13, the teeth of which are milled flat to engage withcorresponding teeth of a gear 14, rot-arymovement of the piston being thus prevented. The gear 14 is mounted in the casing 9 loose on the sleeve 9a, which l sleeve is internally threaded for engagement with the screwS which passes therethrough. l

A ratchet wheel 15 is arranged at one side of the gear`14 and is keyed to the sleeve 9 to rotate therewith. On the gear 14 is pivotally mounted a pawl 16, there being a spring 17 coperating with the pawl to cause Ythe latter'v to engage with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 15. A coiled spring 18'in the adjusting cylinder 10 bears at one end against a head of said cylinder and at its opposite end is received in the hollow body 12 ofthe piston 11.

Normally, the spring 18 tends to hold the piston 11 in the position shown-in Fig. 2. The cylinder 10 is connected by a suitable air pipe 19 with the brake cylinder 1 and in the operation of the. slack adjustin means described, assuming that there is no slack being taken in, the piston 2 moves in 'the cylinder 1 under the influence of the customary pressure medium without uncovering the port 19 leading linto 'the pipe 19. Should there be slack in the hreke connections, such as due ordinarily to wear on l the brake shoes, it will be apparent that an enters the cylinder 10, the piston 11 moves arrow 1n F-ig. 2. Durin 'said rotation vof longitudinally towardthe outer end of saida cylinder, compressing the s ring 18 and rotatin the gear 14 in the dlrectl'on'of the the gear 14, the pawl 16 rises over the teeth of the ratchet 15. When the brakes vare re.- leased, and pressurevthereby removed from the workinguside vof the piston, the spring 18 will return said piston to it's normal p04.' sition, reversely rotating the gear' 14v and causing the ratchet wheel 15 to rotate with said -gear by reason of the engagementof the pawl 16 therewith. The last-mentioned movement of the ratchet wheel 15 causes a simultaneous .movement of the threaded actuating sledve 9-, `which in turn imparts longitudinal movement to the screw 8, drawing the fulcrum block 7 outwardly on the bracket' 6, the slack in the operating connections ofthe brake mechanism being thus takenjup.A

In Fig. 3, a slightly modified adaptation of the slack adjusting cylinder and associated parts is illustrated, said parts being of the same construction as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, but differently applied to the brake mechanism. In the construction shown in Fig. 3, an operating shaft 20 is rovided,

. thesame being1 composed of jointe sections to afford a certain degree of exibility. Said shaft has ratchet v wheel 15 .secured thereto, and the sleeve 9*, hereinbefore described, is 'dispensed with. Carried by the shaft 20 is a bevel gear 21, the same meshing with the bevel gear 22 keyed or otherwise securedy to. a turn buckle 23. The turn buckle 23 is journaled in bearings in the sides of a U-shaped frame 24, and .the intermediate portion of saidframe has a bearthe 'shaft- -20 which passes therethrough. The brake' rod 4 in the modification connects'suitable brake levers 3, and is madeof sections, instead of being of the form shown in Fig. 1., The sections of the brake v rod 4* have adjacentthreaded ends engaged by the corresponding threaded ends of the turn buckle 23. The shaft 2O extends entirel .throughthe casing.9 of thel adjusting cy inder. The 4principle of operation of the partsv in the modied adaptation'is. practically the same as in relation to the construction .first described, rotation of the 'turn' buckle 23- adusting the length of the brake rod 4* in lorder to take up unnecessary slack.

In Fig. 4 a further modification is illus- 'trated, -wherein certain parts are 'numbered in a manner corresponding with the-'equivalent parts in Fig. 1. In the modification of Fig. 4, however, the adjusting screw, designated 8*, passes through the 'fulcrum block r7, a bevel gear 25 being secured to said `screw to rotate therewith. An operating shaft '26 carries a bevel gear 27A meshing with the gear 25,'and said shaft 2 6 correrotated direct from the ratchet wheel 15 of, the adjustingmechanism.

The provision of the jointed shaft 20 in Fig. 3 is necessar because of the lateral shifting of the bra e rod 4vl in the slack ad` justingope'ration, it being necessary to have relative movement of 'the take-up meansand the adjusting means for the purpose mentioned. v

As` will be seen from Fig. 2, a stop 27 is carried by thewal-l of the casing 9 and is arranged in the -path of movement ofthe pawl 16.` As the 5 ear -14 is returned rto its normal position a er a slack adjusting operation, the pawl 16 by vengagement with the stop 27, is disengaged .from the ratchet wheel 15, leavin j the said wheel free to be rotatedindepen entl of the automatic adjusting means descrilied, as for 'instance,\ by hand, should it be Vdesired to takenp. the

slack in theconnections by manual Ioperation. In the modifications of Figs. 3 and 4, the shafts 20 andu26, respectively, wouldbe manually operated underthe conditions lastreferred to. u l Having thus described my invention, what is claimed as new is: 1. In a slackadjuster, the combination of an adjusting cylinder, a piston mounted therein for operation by a pressure medium and comprising a. hollow body provided with a rack, a gear wheel meshing with said rack, slack take-up mechanism operable by said gear wheel and normally inoperative in relation thereto, a ratchet wheel, a pawl carried by the gear wheel forcoperation with said ratchet-wheel, means for -supplying a lpressure medium to the cylinder, a stop'to vengage the pawl aforesaid to render the" same inoperative' in' relation to the ratchet wheel' at a predetermined point in the movement of the piston', and a spring arranged in said cylinder and in thehollow portion of the piston, and normally tending to `hold the piston in its normal position.

2. In a slack adjuster, the combinationV of `brake mechanism, slack adjusting means therefor comprising a supporting bracket," a fulcrum block slldably mounted' thereon,-

a screw connected with said block, a sleeve rotatable upon said bracket and having ratchet pawl intermediate the gear and sponds with the shaft 20 in` Fig. 3, and islsrs ratchet Wheel, a slack adjusting cylinder, a piston in said cylinder having a rack engaging the gear to operate the same, means for supplying a pressure medium to the cylinder to move the piston therein, a spring to hold the said piston in its normal position, and means for rendering 'the ratchet pawl inoperative in relation to the Wheel when the parts are in their normal positions, whereby the fulcrum block may be manually adjusted.

3. A slack adjuster comprising a slack adjust-ing cylinder, a piston mounted therein and provided with a longitudinal rack, means for supplyi a pressure medium to said cylinder, a slac take-up device, a gear meshing with the rack aforesaid, pawl and,

ratchet mechanism intermediate said gear and the slack take-up device for operation of the latter, and means for normalizing the parts after operation of the same.

4. A slack adjuster comprising a slack adjusting cylinder, a piston mounted therein, a rack carried by said piston, a spring normally holding the piston'in a predetermined position, means for supplying a pressure medium to the c linder to move the piston against t-he actlon of the spring, a gear meshing with the rack, a slack take-up member, a ratchet Wheel secured for rotation with said take-up member, and a pawl intermediate said gear and ratchet Wheel to operate the latter when the gear is actuated by the spring.

5. A slack adjuster comprising a slack adjusting cylinder, a piston mounted therein, a rack carried by said piston, a spring normally holding the piston in a predetervpiston a ainst the actlon of the spring, a

gear mes ing with the rack, a slack take-up member, a ratchet wheel secured for rotation with the take-up member, a awl intermediate said gear and ratchet w eel to operate the latter when the gear is actuated by the spring, and a stop to engage said pawl during the normalizlng movement of the parts to free the pawl from the Wheel.

6. In a slack adjuster, the combination of a cylinder, a hollow piston `mounted therein and provided along a' side thereof With a rack, a spring partly housed. in the hollow portion of said piston and bearing against the cylinder to normally hold the cylinder in a predetermined position, a gear meshing with the rack, a slack take-up member, and pawl and ratchet mechanism intermediate said gear and said take-up member.

7. In a slack adjuster, the combination of a cylinder, a hollow piston mounted therein and provided along a side thereof With a rack, a spring partly housed in the hollow portion of said piston and bearing against the cylinder to normally hold the piston in a predetermined positlon, a gear meshing with the rack, a slack take-up member, pawl and ratchet mechanism intermediate said gear and said take-up member, and means for rendering the pawl and ratchet mechanism inoperative.

WILLIAM Y. MOFFAT.

Witnesses FRANK J. JORDAN, JOHN R. WARD. 

